


Glimpse

by celohei



Series: Glimpse of Another Path [1]
Category: Naruto
Genre: Action/Adventure, Blood and Violence, Complete, Disregards end of canon, Emotional Hurt, Fourth Shinobi War, Gen, Implied/Referenced Character Death, Kyuubi | Nine-tails | Kurama & Uzumaki Naruto Friendship, Swearing, right in the feels
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-10
Updated: 2020-03-11
Packaged: 2021-02-28 18:33:43
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 10
Words: 20,647
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23091880
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/celohei/pseuds/celohei
Summary: In his fight against Tobi, 22yo Naruto uses the Hiraishin. He hadn't counted on his huge amount of chakra having that consequence. At his desk, Minato felt a pull: one of his Hiraishin seals had been activated and not by him. [complete] [sequel will be posted] [also posted on ffn]
Relationships: Namikaze Minato & Uzumaki Naruto
Series: Glimpse of Another Path [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1659682
Comments: 10
Kudos: 155





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Hey! So this is a little piece I wrote years ago and posted on ffn. I decided to give ao3 a try too. It's part of a series that is still unfolding.  
> This was written before the end of canon so keep that in mind.
> 
> Enjoy!

**Chapter 1**

Naruto's breath hitched. For the second time in his life, he couldn't feel Kakashi while in Sage mode. He had felt the jounin's life slip away, dimming even as Sakura poured healing chakra into his body. He had felt it flicker and die. Kakashi was gone.

Naruto exhaled slowly. He closed his eyes and allowed himself to mourn for three seconds.

Kakashi was gone. Gone like too many others. Gone like Neji, who had fallen protecting Hinata from the twisted reincarnation of his own father. Gone like Tenten, who had burnt out her last drop of chakra using Ginkaku's and Kinkaku's mystical fan to defend a group of too-young Suna shinobis. Gone like Gaara, who had died defending Tsunade Baa-chan's body. Gone like dozens and hundreds of shinobis.

Kakashi, his teacher, his mentor, his friend, one of those who were most important to him. This was the second time Naruto couldn't feel him. This time was worse than the first time. This time, there would be no resurrection jutsu. This time, there would be no Nagato to sacrifice his life to revive others'. This time, Kakashi was gone.

Three seconds. That's all Naruto allowed himself. He couldn't afford more.

_One. Two. Three_.

He opened his eyes. They took in his surroundings. His war-devastated surroundings. Scorched earth, body pieces, torn rocks, melted sand. For miles and miles around the nature was disfigured. Not a tree stood, all burnt weeks if not months ago. Despite his Sage mode, Naruto couldn't feel life around him. Only dimming lives at the periphery of his range, where the medics fought a war against death. All else was absent. Or almost. Only insects and carrion-eaters remained despite the desolation. Crows feasted on the corpses of the fallen. Too many. Too many to even burn properly. Burying them would also be impossible. Not enough left standing to do the job, waste precious energy on it. Besides, the body of a shinobi was to be burnt,. Always should have been, and with it, all the shinobi' secrets.

The war had started years ago, when Kabuto resurrected the loved ones of the Allied Shinobi Force to destroy them, if not physically at least mentally. Many had fallen. Shino, Akamaru, Choza. Many others had turned crazy with grief or from the horror and couldn't or wouldn't fight anymore: Kiba, Shikamaru, Kurenai. Itachi and Sasuke had managed to kill the crazy medic responsible for this disaster. The brothers managed to force Kabuto to cancel his awful jutsu, but it was too late: both Uchiha lost their life in the fight. The list went on and on. Each village, each nation was mourning. Too many lost lives to count.

The war had come to what many hoped would be an end a while ago. Naruto, helped by Kakashi and Gai, had hurt Tobi enough for him to withdraw and hide, healing. The fight had taken its toll. Kakashi was more broken than ever. Obito. A victim. A destroyer of life. Kakashi was never the same after that. Gai had lost an arm but kept on being a shinobi.

The uneasiness of incertitude went on for weeks. People slowly started healing and reconstructing their self, both mentally and physically. Small groups would go back to the villages and spend time with their families. Never for too long. The war wasn't over. Weeks turned into months. Months turned into years. Fallen friends were mourned and chanted. Families were reunited, weeping for those who didn't come back. New friendships were born, strong and deep, forged in the tears of those who survived. Children grew up. They became genin. Genin became chuunin. Chuunin became junin. Green chuunin and junin came to the war zone to fill the depleted ranks. The veterans didn't welcome them. Never. Never again. Never would they welcome children and innocents in this war. They should be home, building their life. Yet, veterans welcomed them. Help, reinforcement, news from home. Anything to get one's mind off this hellhole. Nobody wanted to be there yet none wanted to leave. The war was not over. Heal and regroup. Years passed. Not many. Not enough to forget. Not enough to heal the mind. Troops trained. Skills and knowledge were exchanged among the Allied Force. There was no Hidden Village anymore. There was, but the war was bigger. There were just two camps: the living, and the one who wanted to destroy them. Countless strategies were put into place and thought out.

_One. Two. Three_.

Naruto opened his eyes and looked around him. In front of him, detached from the war-torn landscape, a man stood. Tobi. Obito. Kakashi's killer. Oh, irony.

No. _Tobi_ was Kakashi's killer. _Obito_ had been his best friend. Naruto refused to think of the two as the same person, for Kakashi' sake. Naruto's jaw clenched. This man had reappeared after 5 years. Five years during which Naruto had trained. He was now stronger than ever. Now 22 he had lost his innocence, his optimism and faith that everyone can be good. He had lost too much to still believe that. He was ready to fight. To fight Tobi and to kill him. Rid the world of this danger, this plague. Nobody was going to assist him. It was too dangerous. Help would only hinder him. The Raikage could have helped, but Naruto refused: he would only distract him. No. For this, Naruto needed to be alone. His skills were too dangerous for others. This was precisely the reason he was the one facing Tobi. The last Uchiha had had time to heal and become stronger too.

_One. Two. Three_.

Naruto opened his eyes and stopped mourning his loss. Now was not the time. Now was the time to fight. In the stillness of the destroyed nature, he moved.

There were no taunts, no mockery, no exchange of words at all. Both fighters knew why they were there: one was there to fight, subdue and capture; the other was here to fight and kill. The fight would be fast. Speed was everything. Speed was the key.

A few sensors were standing at the edge of the devastated plain. They stood far enough not to be in danger – Naruto had insisted on that – but close enough that they could feel that the fight was far above their level, far above anyone's level. They could feel the insane amount of chakra in the air. It wasn't that the attacks were particularly powerful but there were so many of them in so short an amount of time that the surrounding nature, already saturated,couldn't absorb all the remaining chakra in the air, which only exacerbated the unease and sick feeling already triggered by the chaotic landscape. The different pressure caused the sky above the battle zone to darken in a chakra- and electricity-saturated storm. Despite witnessing it all, some sensors shared one thought: _could you be anymore cliché?_

Naruto's body moved by instinct as Tobi's hand flew by his torso, missing him by a hair. Both shinobi backed away, once again facing each other. Their breath was even. Tobi tilted his head. Naruto's eyes narrowed.

"-Looks like you trained."

Naruto didn't answer. He didn't need to. He had nothing to answer anyway. He had trained. Tobi had known it and Naruto knew that; there was no point in voicing it. The fight was a hard one, but not one Naruto planned to lose. He had matched his enemy's movements perfectly until now and without difficulty. But Naruto wasn't naïve. Not anymore. He knew that they hadn't reached the serious part of their confrontation yet. He was fast, but Tobi was too. Rather, it wasn't so much that Tobi was _fast_ but that he could manipulate time and space to his advantage. Naruto couldn't. So Naruto had become fast, managing to reach the only speed that could beat the Sharingan: that of his father. Ironically, it was only a matter of time before he would need it.

The opposing shinobis resumed fighting. This time, they were serious. This time, they had to go all in. They moved fast, faster, and faster still. Naruto focused. And disappeared in a flash.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

Minato was sitting behind his desk. He had been Hokage for little over a year now and was managing well. One of his ANBU captains was standing in front of him, delivering his mission report. Minato tensed suddenly. His ANBU cut himself mid-sentence a fraction of a second later, sensing his leader's tension.

_What the hell?_

Minato felt a pull. The pull was somewhat familiar but did not completely match the usual feeling of the Hiraishin seal. Usually, he was the one triggeringthe pull when he targeted aseal in a particular location. This was not how it felt right now. He was feeling a pull from one of his seals all right, butthe focus was not comingfrom within himself. He focused for a fraction of a second on the location of the activated seal. It was one outside of Konoha proper, at the limit between the forest and one of the most remote open training grounds.

"-Follow m..." He didn't have the time to finish his order to his hidden ANBU guards that he was pulled to the activated seal.

In a flash he appeared in the clearing where the seal was. He was slightly dizzy: he wasn't used to being pulled into one of his seals! However, the wave of dizziness was not what made him switch into full Hokage mode.

In the clearing, in front of him, two shinobis were fighting. Their movements were fast and precise. One was wearing a colored porcelain mask covering his whole head. His body was covered by a dark cloak that was torn in several places. The other one was tall. He had blond hair and was wearing a black and dark red outfit. Minato couldn't distinguish anything else. They disappeared in a flash as suddenly as they had appeared. Minato's eyes widened at that. He was alone in the clearing. Everything had lasted only a few seconds, not enough time for his ANBU to locate him and shushin to him.

* * *

" _Naruto."  
_ " _Yeah, I felt it too, Kurama."_

Naruto frowned. That had been weird. The Hiraishin had worked perfectly: he had teleported himself behind Tobi like he planned to. But something else had happened too. He hadn't seen much beside his opponent, too focused on his fight, but he had seen glimpses of green and blue. Nothing around him was green and blue now. The earth was either black where it had been burnt, or the dark reddish brown of blood. The sky was a heavy grey, sometimes lit by white lightning. The blue and green glimpses hadn't been the weirdest thing, though. Naruto wasn't sure, but something had affected Kurama. It had only lasted the few seconds between the two flashes of the teleportation jutsu, so he didn't have time to analyze what is was, but something had happened.

The instant they flashed back into reality for the second time Tobi hesitated. It was small and swift but Naruto sensed it.

_So, whatever that was, it didn't come from him. That's good to know. He doesn't know what it was either. He would have acted on it otherwise._

Naruto decided to let it go. He couldn't afford to lose his concentration in this fight. There was too much at stake.

Naruto pushed his chakra inward and locked it to a seal. In a flash he was gone.

* * *

_There!_

This time, the pull came from a seal on his left. Minato barely had the time to brace himself before he found himself transported to the rocky field behind the Hokage Monument where he had placed a Hiraishin seal a few months ago. Again he saw the two shinobis locked into a taijutsu fight. They seemed to evade one another but never parted. They were gone in a flash.

Minato flared his chakra. A second later, his ANBU guards came into existence before him, accompanied by the captain who had been giving him his report.

"-Hokage-sama?

-Have a team secure the village. I want Hiroshi Hyuuga here yesterday. I also want our best tracker team and our two best capture teams. Something is happening and I don't like it.

-Hai!"

* * *

Naruto and his opponent reappeared in a flash in the middle of the scorched plain. The blond frowned. It had happened again. It was very subtle but he was sure the rocky terrain he had been standing on only a few seconds ago was not the one he was standing on right now. He forced his face back into a blank expression: it wouldn't do to indicate to Tobi that he didn't know what was happening either.

A kunai torn through his jacket but missed his flesh by several centimeters. Naruto was happy for his intense training in taijutsu: the last few years were bearing fruits. He would never have been able to follow Tobi's movements for as long as he had been now without sustaining some serious injuries had it not been for his training. Granted, he was already in Sage mode, but it would be stupid of him not to use it against such an enemy. And he still had a few tricks up his sleeve should Sage mode be insufficient.

He felt the unbalance in the natural energy typical of Tobi's activation of his dimension manipulation technique.

A flash illuminated the area.

* * *

"-Hokage-sama!

-Yes, meet me there." Minato disappeared in a flash, transported to the seal he was first pulled into. He had been prepared this time. And his men too. They appeared in the clearing in a swirl of leaves a few seconds after him, including the ones he had summoned.

"-Hyuuga!

-Hai!" Hiroshi Hyuuga was observing the fighting men with the famous eyes of his clan. "Two men, one has big chakra reserves. Most of his chakra is concentrated in his eyes. The other... I can't see...

-What?!

-His whole body is bright, I can't distinguish his reserves. There's something swirling around them." Just as he finished his sentence, the two mysterious men disappeared in yet another flash.

"-Sensor!

-Sir, they seem to have disappeared.

-I can see that.

-No, sir. "Disappeared" like we can't sense them anymore. At all."

Minato was silent. There was something fishy going on. And it was messing with his seals. He didn't like this one bit. And the tidbit about totally disappearing was worrisome too. The strangers somewhat seemed to appear through his seals. Could they be teleporting themselves into Konoha through another seal of his? He was positive he had retrieved, destroyed or irremediably deactivated all the seals he had put outand used outside of Konoha during the war. It had taken him quite some time to do so: there had been so many of them! He was beyond certain that all had been rendered useless one way or another. After all, it would have been too great a risk to Konoha should any seal master find a usable one. Minato was pretty sure the seal alone wouldn't be enough to break and copy his technique but it was better being safe than sorry. So, with all that in mind, Minato took a decision.

"-All right. I'm going to temporally deactivate my seals. I will only leavethe two in this clearing active so that they won't have any choice but to come here." _And I won't be transported left and right_ , he added to himself. "Hiroshi, you know your job. Tell me all you can see. Team 21, as sensors, you do pretty much the same. Try to anticipate their moves if you can. I can sense when they activate my seal in but they don't need it to leave. Team 46 and 52, you'll pursue and capture if they so much as set a foot outside of this field. I don't want them any closer to the village. This is already way too close. If they stay longer than a few seconds and there's a lull in the fight, you go in and capture if possible. I'll be assisting in both tasks.

-Hai!" was the general response.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

Naruto exhaled as he felt the flesh of his arm mending back together. Tobi had been pissed at being transported left and right, it would seem. He had thrown one hell of a fire jutsu at Naruto, who barely had time to escape most of it. His right arm had been burnt, however. Fortunately, it was only a minor burn and it would be completely healed in a minute. He was once more facing the Uchiha, both men a few meters apart. Kurama took the opportunity of a lull in the fight to speak with his host.

" _-Naruto._

_-Yeah._

_-Wherever you're sending us to, I'm stronger there._

_-What?! What do you mean?_

_-I'm not sure yet but whatever you do or whatever it has triggered, I am more powerful there._

_-Hm..._ " Naruto was silent for a second, an idea forming in his head. " _Is it safe?_

_-You want to fight there._

_-Why not? If we're more powerful there, why not take advantage of it? If it helps finish this son of a bitch off, it's worth giving it a shot, don't you think? So, is it safe?_

_-Hm. I see your point. You know I want his blood as much as you do, if not more. Let's flash there once more. If it's safe enough, we can take that bastard down over there._

_-Deal."_

* * *

"-How is it going?

-Raikage-sama!" The team of sensors acknowledged the arriving commander. Isuya, a sensor from Lightning, answered the Raikage's question while the others kept on observing the fight from afar.

"-They're fast. No one seems to have the advantage for now but Naruto-sama isn't in bijuu mode yet.

-Hm. Has he used the Fourth's technique yet?

-Yes but there seems to be something else going on. It looks like they've broken the fight for now.

-For how long?

-Just now. They...  
-Again!" A member of the team cut Isuya mid-sentence.

"-What's happening?" The Raikage's voice could be heard as the team of sensors felt the fighting shinobis flicker out of existence again.

* * *

Naruto and Tobi reappeared in a flash, standing once more in the apocalyptic landscape. They were fighting once more. Naruto could feel that Tobi didn't appreciate _not_ controlling time and space.

" _-Kurama?_

_-It's more or less safe._

_-How so?_

_-The area is populated and there are people waiting for us. Other than that, it's safe._

_-And your power?_

_-I'm still not sure what is it but it's safe too. I'm positive that he has nothing to do with it. I can feel my old force back. Not all of it but enough to finish this._

_-Hm. Ok. Well, I hope whoever is waiting for us won't be stupid enough to intervene. Let's do this!"_ They vanished in yet another flash.

* * *

This time Minato wasn't pulled into one of his seals. He had felt it being activated but since he was already on site he could witness the flashy appearance of the two strangers. As soon as they appeared the blond one launched himself at the other at an impressive speed. Minato had had his men take position all around the perimeter. He felt them tense but signed to them to stay put for the moment: the two opponents didn't seem interested in anything but their fight. They were locked in a fierce exchange of taijutsu. After a few blows, one of them spoke.

"-What have you done?" The voice snarled. Minato couldn't tell which one it was.

"-What? Worried?" The other’s tone was taunting.

"-You'll need more than that to defeat me, boy! Katon!"

"-Katon!"

* * *

Naruto quickly retreated, not hearing the name of the technique. Even like that he could feel the heat of the dangerous technique coming at him. As he was about to be engulfed in flames, he turned on himself, covering his body with wind chakra. He managed to deviate the fiery mass by swirling it around his body and launched it back at Tobi. The black-haired man managed to dodge it without much trouble.

* * *

"-Katon!"

Minato saw the blond man escape and redirect the attack at its caster without breaking a sweat. His movements were fast and fluid. For a brief moment it had seemed like the young man had been dancing with the flames.

Now that the opponents were separated, he could see that the one who created the fire technique had short black hair. His face was entirely hidden behind a grey mask. His dark clothes had been torn in several places and one of his sleeves was missing. The blond man was wearing regular black combat boots and pants with a deep red jacket. The right sleeve had apparently been burnt off. The left side of his jacket had been cut open, letting Minato see a bit of protective ninja mesh shirt underneath.

Minato ordered his men to stand down. He didn't know enough to risk his men's lives. After the few seconds during which he had observed the two shinobi, they resumed fighting. The combat quickly became a fierce fight of ninjutsu. The attacks were powerful and in quick succession, not even letting one die down before launching another. The masked man launched fire techniques left, right and everywhere in between. Some were big and explosive, others small and sneaky but just as destructive, using even the ashes of previous attacks. The blond man was dodging the attacks and countered them, to Minato's astonishment, with a combination of fire, wind and earth techniques. Some were defensive but most of them weren't, forcing the masked man to dodge just as much.

* * *

Naruto was getting pissed off. This battle on ninjutsu was getting them nowhere. Tobi wasn't stupid enough to let himself get caught and injured by any of his attacks, which he had expected. Also, the crazy masked man knew that he would need more than that to either render Naruto unconscious or to tire him down enough to capture him, which Naruto also knew.

This exchange of ninjutsu was slowly pissing Naruto off because it was Tobi's way of stalling and studying this new environment. Fortunately they were far enough away from what Naruto thought was a village full of people for Tobi not to be able to sense them and make up a plan involving them, most likely as hostages. Unfortunately, Kurama had been right: there were people there waiting for them close enough for the psycho-maniac to involve them if given the chance. The plus side of this ninjutsu battle was that it would tire Tobi down, if only a little.

 _There_.

Naruto felt Tobi move toward one of the nearby observers.

"-Oh no, you don't!" In a flash, Naruto was there, blocking Tobi's path and forcing him to fall back to the center of the clearing. "This is between you and me."

* * *

"-Oh no, you don't!"

Minato's eyes widened as the blond used what seemed to be the Hiraishin to block the masked man's path.

_So, he is the one controlling and using it._

"-This is between you and me."

Minato understood then that the masked man had tried to come close to Sparrow. The Hokage focused on the blond's face. His eyes widened once more: around the blond's eyes was an orange shadow he had only seen on Jiraya-sensei. _A Sage?! How?!_

"-Mah, Naruto, you want me to ignore our welcomingparty? How rude of you." This time, it was the masked man who had spoken. _So, the blond's name is Naruto._

"-Don't you fucking come near them, Tobi. This is between you and me. You do not involve anyone else. You've made enough people suffer like this.

-Oh. Are you talking about Kakashi? Come on, you can't be mad about this, you knew it was long overdue." Minato tensed at the mention of Kakashi's name. Had something happened on his mission? Was he dead? Had this Tobi killed him?

Tobi's taunting seemed to hit a nerve with Naruto: Minato saw him launch at the other man.

"-You have no right. You have no fucking right! Don't you dare speak his name, you bastard!"

Then all happened in the blink of an eye. As Naruto was moving to strike, Tobi shifted to avoid the blow. Minato felt the other blond gathering his chakra in _that_ particular way. He took an instant decision and molded his own chakra to match the blond's and stick to him. In a flash the three men were gone.


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

_Shit!_

Just as Naruto's punch sent Tobi flying off, he turned his body to face the man who had somehow managed to get close to them.

"-What do you think you're doing? I was clear, I don't want anyone intervening in this fi..." Naruto stopped himself. Was he seeing right? He recognized the man in front of him. How could he not? Minato Namikaze, Fourth Hokage, Yellow Flash... His father. His _dead_ father. He realized that the man before him _was_ his father, not some twisted reincarnation or some chakra manifestation, but the real, in-the-flesh Yondaime.

The man looked around him. His face was serious as he took in the devastated surroundings.

"-What happened he-?

-You can't be here." Naruto's voice cut his father’s question.

Naruto internally flinched as his remark earned him a very cold stare. In front of him was the Hokage, the Yellow Flash, not his loving father. Just as he was going to explain himself further Tobi spoke.

"-My, my. Look who's joined us. The Fourth Hokage, what an honor. Long time no see.

-Shut up, Tobi.

-Why, Naruto. No need to be so touchy. After all, you were the one who brought him out. I suspected he had left a part of him inside of you. Aren't you happy to see your-

-Enough! Don't say a word."

Oddly enough Tobi seemed to obey him. Naruto noted that the man seemed to be enjoying this way too much for his comfort. "You," addressing Minato, "you cannot be here.

-And you cannot be in ~

-That's not what I meant.” Once more, Naruto cut him off. “You cannot be _here_. You shouldn't have followed us. This doesn't involveyou." At this Tobi chuckled.

"-The moment you stepped into our territory I was involved. What do you want with us?"

Naruto sighed. This whole thing was a mess. And a pretty big one at that. He had a hard time understanding what was happening. He had a few theories but nothing concrete yet. He shook himself. He could think about that later. Right now he had to defeat Tobi before he could capture him or escape once again.

"-Ok, look. I don't have time for this right now. Just know that I don't want to hurt or even involve anyone, you included. So here's what I suggest: we don't touch your men, you don't get in our hair, and we can talk when this is all over." His father seemed to think it over for a few seconds.

"-I accept." Naruto was relieved but he knew that his father would come back on his decision as soon as he thought he had enough information to take control of the situation. After all he _was_ Hokage and had to think of Konoha first.

_Great. Now there's that. At least he’s agreed to give us some time. Now for the fun part: bringing him back while making sure the other bastard doesn't escape when he understands where we are and goes mess things up even further over there. Aaaand protect Konoha's men. Awesome._

A plan started to form in Naruto's head.

* * *

Minato, after agreeing to the deal, reflected on what had just happened. The young blond had started to speak with anger. He had then hesitated and stopped talking before starting to speak again with an authority that had surprised Minato. He had been vicious when addressing the other man, Tobi. Obviously there was bad blood between the two. Minato was still preoccupied: what had happened to Kakashi? He needed answers. And he needed to know how this Naruto had managed to use the Hiraishin. If he could indeed use the technique and considering the number of teleportation seals in Konoha, the blond represented a serious security threat. He needed to go back to Konoha. He needed to capture the blond and get answers. If he didn't like them, he would have to have the blond killed, for Konoha' safety. He molded his chakra but frowned when he realized he couldn't feel any of his seals. Something twisted inside him. Even while fighting Tobi – who was nowapparently trying to reach Minato – Naruto seemed to have felt it, for he said:

"-It won't work."

Minato's frown deepened. He didn't like that at all. Minato saw the masked man disappear in a swirl and reappear just next to him.

"-Son of a !"

A flash. Naruto was in front of him, between Tobi and himself. Blood splattered Minato. Tobi's hand was still holding the kunai embedded in Naruto's shoulder and meant for Minato's throat. Naruto's elbow was touching Minato. They were standing on grass. Tobi started to disappear again.

"-As if I'd let you." A golden hand sprouted from Naruto's belly and held the masked man, stopping his disappearance. Tobi _tssk_ -ed, obviously annoyed. Naruto slowly reached for the kunai, pulling it out.

"-That hurt, you bastard."

To Minato's utter astonishment he could see the flesh of the blonde's shoulder melting back together, healing. Who was he?

"-Hokage-sama!

-Hold your position!"

The blonde – Naruto – moved slightly then disappeared in a flash with the other – Tobi – the golden hand still attached to the both of them. Minato and his men were now alone in the clearing. He asked them what they had found out but the whole thing had happened too quickly for them to find anything new. After a few minutes of silence, Naruto reappeared, alone. He immediately lifted his hands, palms up, eyes boring into Minato’s. One of the capture teams surrounded him. Minato approached him and studied him with cold eyes. He could see that the young man had dropped his Sage mode. Minato's eyes widened slightly and very briefly when he saw the man's face, so similar to his own.

"-I need your help." Naruto spoke quietly but firmly. The request surprised Minato.

"-What do you want?

-First, I want your men to stand down. As I said, I'm not here to hurt them or Konoha. Quite the contrary." Minato didn't answer nor granted his request. Naruto sighed. "Look, I get it. This whole thing looks shady. And you're right." His voice was calm. "But if you love Konoha you need to listen to me," his tone became strong and authoritative, "this man is bad news. And _he_ wants to harm Konoha. More than anything. I am not about to let that happen. He's done too much. _I_ 've done too much. He needs to be stopped. I need to fight him _here_. And I will, whether you want it or not, I will." His tone was final as he said this, his blue eyes serious and deadly, never leaving Minato's. "It would be a pain in the ass but I could fight him and your men at the same time. However, I would really prefer not to. As I mentioned, I need your help. You can help me finish this without another unnecessary bloodbath.

-Bloodbath? What makes you think you could fight my men and come out on top? I have no intention of believing you and I certainly won't stand back if you engage my men." Minato's eyes were also deadly serious. Yet, for all he said, something inside him wanted to believe this man. He didn't let it show.

"-This is troublesome. We don't have all day. My clones are holding him off but they won't last long and I need time. I'm being honest here. I need help. Like I said, I could fight your men. I don't want to. And I don't want to fight you. I'm not crazy, I'm not about to engage the Yellow Flash when I can't afford to give it 100%: I happen to like being alive. But I will if you give me no choice. With or without your help I'm gonna bring that son of a bitch here and rip him to pieces." He finished his sentence in a vicioussnarl.At the periphery of his vision, Minato saw one of his ANBU repressing an instinctive step back. "If your men stand in the way, I _will_ hurt them. Not kill them. But I won't have a few ANBU keep me from saving my precious people. Am I making myself clear?" A coupleANBU flinched. Minato almost did. His eyes narrowed.

This tone. That was the tone of someone decided to do everything in his power to defend his people. This was the tone of someone used to commanding and used to being obeyed. Minato knew that tone well. It was the tone he had heard the Sandaime use during the war. It was the tone he himself used during the war and after that. A tone his ANBU and all of Konoha’s shinobis were trained to obey without question. And because Minatoknew that tone, heknew the man in front of him would do exactly what he just said, whether hewanted him to or not. Minato closed his eyes for one second.

"-What do you need?"

* * *

"-Raikage-sama!

-Namikaze? What are you doing here?"

To the surprise of the sensors and of the Raikage, Naruto had just appeared among them. Or rather, one of his clones.

"-I need your help. Boss is preparing something but he needs us to buy him time.

-What do you need me to do? Do you need the sensors?

-No, you", the clone turned to face the sensors, "stay here, it's too dangerous and I don't want anyone caught in the crossfire. Raikage, you were with us when Kak..." The clone hesitated and faltered, his face showing profound sadness for a fraction of a second. The Raikage understood then that the Copy-Nin, the ninja of one thousand jutsus, was no more.

The clone started talking again. "… When we discussed Tobi's Sharingan. You know how to fight it and I need your speed. I can't use the Hiraishin when I'm a clone, only the Boss can use it. I need you as back up, we can't risk being dispelled before the Boss wants us to.

-Hm. I'm listening."

* * *

"-What do you need?

-Thank you." Naruto didn't move: Minato still hadn't motioned for his men to stand down. "I need to put up a barrier. We need to make sure he can't come closer to the village." That had Minato relaxing slightly. But only just. "I need the material to create a blood seal. A big one. I need at least four shinobi who can help maintain a barrier up but more would be good too. It would help to have a second team to relieve them. I don't know how long the fight will last." Naruto's instructions were unwavering and commanding, his voice sharp but not harsh. Minato was impressed. This man was a leader, no question about that. Minato motioned to his men to stand down.

"Is Jiraya in the village?

-No, why?

-I need a seal master.

-I _am_ a seal master.

-I know." Naruto seemed to hesitate briefly. "Are you willing to work with me?

-What kind of Hokage would I be if I gave you my men but not myself?

-Good.

-Hm. Anything else?

-No, that's about all I need."

Minato nodded and sent his men to fetch all that was required, both objects and people. He then turned back to the blonde, whose face was a mask of concentration.

"-Naruto, right?

-Yes. I would spend time on niceties but we don't _have_ time." Minato noted that he hadn't been given a family name but said nothing. "Ok, so, the barrier. This is going to be a pain in the ass. We need it to be bound by blood.

-For solidity?

-Yes. I'm going to bind it with your men's blood.

-What?

-Relax. I'm not going to bleed them dry. I'm going to use their blood for several reasons. First because for what I have in mind, the more people it's bound to, the more grounded it will be. Second, having it bound to the men outside of it makes it impossible for him to kill them and so to destroy the barrier, which wouldn't be the case if I was the blood pillar. And third, because you wouldn't trust me otherwise."

Minato had to admit that Naruto was spot on.

"-Hm. What about the stability? More blood pillars will make it unstable.

-Yes. We'll need to put a stability matrix on it but that's not the hard part nor why I need you.

-Then why do you need me?

-I need the Hiraishin." Minato's eyes narrowed. Was this a plan to obtain the seal of the Hiraishin? Naruto seemed to read his thoughts. "No. I'm not interested in the Hiraishin per say, I don't needthe seal, as I'm sure you've noticed. But I need a component of the seal. Tobi is a crazy bastard but a damn good one and dangerous as hell. The bastard can jump dimensions. I need the barrier to keep him in. Like really _in_. It would be pointless to have him out of the barrier by simply jumping into another dimension and then back here. The Hiraishin allows you to move through space. I want to reverse that component to block him and maintaining him in space, here.

-Why do you need me for that? You seem to be using the Hiraishin just fine, which we will definitely talk about, by the way.

-Ah, I was kind of expecting that. Yes, I can use the Hiraishin. But I'm merely using it. You created it. Well, the Nidaime did, but he's not here so you are the one person who knows best how it works. More importantly, you know the seal in and out, I assume, so if we don't want this to explode in our faces, which I know I don't, we need your knowledge. Mine is incomplete."

Minato didn't say anything but studied Naruto intently, his suspicion growing. This man hadjust admitted to using the Hiraishin. That alone would grant him a single trip to the interrogation room. Yet, he seemed completely unfazed by that. Or fact he had just blurted one of Konoha’s biggest secrets out: the Nidaime was indeed the one who had created the Hiraishin. This knowledge was far from being common though. It wasn’t even part of the Hokage classified information package! How did this Naruto know about this?

A masked shinobi brought them the calligraphy material necessary for sealing. Naruto immediately sat down on the ground and openeda blank scroll, already making calculations about the seal and completely disissing Minato and his reaction to what had just been said.

"-How long before the pillars are here?

-They're here." Naruto raised his head. Twelve men were before him, some of them in ANBU uniform. "Twelve. Good. What's your time limit on a level 4 contingency?" After receiving twelve answers, he dispatched them and went back to his calculations. Apparently he was going to create the blood pillars part as well as the stability matrix. Minato plopped down in front of him and started to work on the reversal of the space component of the Hiraishin.

"-How long do we have?

-Not long. My clones are good and I have help but they won't be able to hold him off for long. Especially once he realizes I'm not there."After some time and a few pointed questions to those who would be the blood pillars, Naruto asked him, "Do you want in?

-Hm?

-Do you want to be in? I'm not sure I fully trust you but I would understand if you wanted to be inside. Once the barrier's up, there will be no going in or out.

-What would you prefer?

-Well, fighting with or against the Yellow Flash would be awesome but honestly, I would prefer you out. I don't want to risk him using you against me. And I don't want to have to worry about someone else. Plus I'm not sure your men would appreciate you being trapped with two unknown inside a barrier.

-Hm. Why did you really need Jiraya? You knew I was a seal master so why ask for him?

-Nothing escapes you, uh? Well, I guess I should have seen that coming. You _are_ the Yondaime after all. I would have liked to have Jiraya power up the barrier. His Sage mode would have helped greatly.” Minato noted in a corner of his mind that this kid somehow knew about Jiraya’ Sage mode.

“-Wouldn't twelve blood pillars be enough?

-They will be strong all right but no. I'm trying to build in another failsafe but..." Naruto lifted his eyes from his calculations. Minato felt it and did the same. Naruto's gaze was serious. "I'm not going to lie to you: there is a risk of the barrier shattering if I touch it for too long.

-Why?

-Let's just say that my chakra is special." He closed his eyes for a few seconds. "We need to hurry. One of my clones got dispersed." They both worked some more. When both had finished their calculations, they mixed both parts of the seal, Naruto adding a few strokes and tweaking others here and there. Minato watched him, interested. He himself was good with seals, really good. But the young man took into account aspects he didn't even considered before he saw the other blonde incorporate them into the seal. He frowned. After a few more minutes and a curse when another of his clones got dispersed, Naruto called those who would be the blood pillars. He had them put one hand on the scroll the seal was drawn on and had Minato activate it. Swirls of ink spread out onto the shinobi's arms and hands.

"-All right. Four of you will put the barrier up. The second team will stay with them so that they can replace them easily should anything happen. The third team, stand by. I'm going to leave and retrieve Tobi. You have to put the barrier up as soon as we're back. Do not miss, am I clear?" After glancing briefly at Minato, who nodded, the twelve shinobi nodded and scattered around the clearing. Naruto turned to Minato. His face was serious. "Now, this guy is a manipulator. He's good. He's really good. He'll try to trick you into fighting and releasing the barrier. Do not let him get to you. Whatever you hear, don't listen.

-So he's a liar?

-He's really good at presenting only a part of the truth." Naruto directed himself to the center of the clearing. "Do not break the barrier." And he was gone.

* * *

Naruto flashed back on the battlefield, some distance away from the fight. He could see his two last clones and the Raikage fighting against Tobi and stalling. He shook his head to try and regain some kind of concentration. What he had just lived had been surreal. For some reason he had managed to land himself in the past, apparently. How this was even possible he didn't know and would probably never know. But the craziest part was seeing his father.

His _father_. Alive. And pissed!

Naruto was half tempted to smirk. His father, for all his loving words to his son, was a scary man to piss off. Namikaze Minato, Yondaime Hokage, was something to behold. The emotional rollercoaster of facing his father and facing the Yondaime Hokage had almost thrown him off his game. Even more so so soon after Kakashi's death. But war had made Naruto grow up. After his initial surprise and bewilderment the iron bars of control had slammed onto his emotions and snappedhim into commander mode. Ordering Konoha's men around hadn't been that difficult. After all, he had been doing that for quite some time, now, it has become instinctual. But negotiating with the Yondaime and working with him on the barrier had come very close to shatteringNaruto' self-control. He had been seating next to his father! And talking and working with him!

That had been his dream long ago, even before he knew that his hero was actually his father. Granted, the man didn't know him and definitely didnot trust him but still. Naruto knew his father was a good seal master, and he was proud to be following the same road; but he had still been surprised when he had managed to modify the Hiraishin so rapidly. Naruto could use the Hiraishin almost instinctively now but he hadn't lied: he didn't know the seal. In a sense, Naruto had surpassed the Yellow Flash: he didn't _need_ the seal. He simply molded his chakra and _voilà_! Nevertheless, he had still put some seals around the battlefield to help him gain time; he couldn't afford not to use every resource available to him.

Naruto didn't know how to feel about seeing his father. More precisely he didn't know what to make of it or what to do about it. Should he talk to him?

"Kit… _"_

" _I know, Kurama. I know. We don't have time for this."_

" _Exactly. You need to focus on Tobi. You'll be inside and the Yondaime will be outside the barrier. You can't afford to pay attention to anything else."_

" _I know. Especially since the barrier won't hold him entirely."_

" _Well at least, he won't be able to jump dimensions. He can only jump inside the barrier. Still you'll have to be careful not to get caught from behind."_

" _I know. Well, ready?"_

" _Let's do this, Kit!"_

Naruto jumped to reach the fight. The Raikage was panting and he was bleeding from several wounds.

"-Ready?" came the rough voice of the man.

"-Yes.

-Good luck."

Naruto used a kawarimi to exchange place with one of his clone just as it was reaching for Tobi. He tried to grab the man with his hand but went right through his body. As soon as his hand left Tobi's body, though, a golden hand shot from his belly and effectively touched the man. Both disappeared, leaving the Raikage alone on the battlefield, the smoke of the dispersed clones dissipating in the air.

  
  



	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5**

Minato Namikaze liked to think of himself as someone calm, in control and fairly grounded. He had always been quiet and introspective. He spent more time observing others than making himself known. As a result, he could anticipate most things. And indeed, he was not a man easily surprised. Since his nomination as Hokage, he had honed his skills in observation and anticipation to an impressive level, even for a shinobi. Oh, he was not arrogant. He knew he still had a lot to learn and to live through. But still, he knew he was good at his job, both as a shinobi and as a Hokage.

Yet, today's experience, he sure as hell did not see coming.

He had been calm, in control and unsurprised from the moment he got up to that fraction of a second when he was surprised to lose control. Fortunately enough for his dignity, or at least that's how he would later decide to consider it, being pulled into the Hiraishin had happened too quickly for him to have the time to lose his calm. And, surprisingly enough – oh, irony – he had managed to keep it... so far. Gone was his illusion of being in control and not easily surprised. No, that was not true. He remained someone not-easily-surprised. But seriously, who wouldn't be surprised by _that_?!

Sure, he managed to regain a sliver of control over the situation by mobilizing his ANBU. Great. Awesome. And so derisory.

Minato Namikaze was _not_ in control. And he did not like that. He did not control his Hiraishin, he did not control today's events (which he had not anticipated), he did not control the seal, he did not control the fight. He controlled nothing.

That man did.

The tall blond man who had just reappeared in the field, where Minato’s men had been waiting, ready to put the barrier up in an instant.The barrier Naruto had made from Minato's own Hiraishin. Talk about a loss of control and a bloody surprise!

Minato did what he was good at: observe, analyze and anticipate. Or at least he tried.

He had the observation down. The analysis was shaky at best. The anticipation was nowhere close to being usable or even existing.

A part of Minato's brain had kept observing everything since the beginning. He knew nothing of the two individuals who had surprised him. Hum... that was not entirely true. _One_ individual had surprised him. And apparently he had surprised the other as well. So, back to the beginning.

He had known nothing of the individual who had surprised him. He had learnt a few things by observing. The man was tall and blonde. His name was Naruto – a curious name. Naruto was strong. Naruto had somewhat managed to crack and use the Hiraishin. Naruto knew seals. Naruto had strange chakra. Naruto was used to leading people and being obeyed. Naruto was fighting a man named Tobi. A man who seemed to have hurt a Kakashi, who might have been someone close to Naruto.

Another thing that Minato had learnt was that Naruto was _pissed_. Pissed at Tobi. And if this Kakashi's thing was true, he had every reason to be.

Now, as he observed Naruto from outside the barrier, Minato learnt that Naruto was calm. Minato was surprised by that. Naruto had not given him the impression of someone calm. Now, however, he was. Minato observed him. His posture, his breathing. Minato realized that Naruto wasn't just calm, he was _deadly_ calm.

Minato shivered. The Naruto standing inside the barrier was someone determined, someone deadly. Someone who he had seen glimpses of: a true, a beautifully lethal shinobi, a decided leader. Minato shivered once more. His body tensed.

Minato, both as a shinobi and as Hokage, hoped, truly hoped, and perhaps prayed, that what Naruto had said was true. That he meant Konoha no harm. Because Minato knew one thing in that moment. And it was something that surprised him - he was growing a serious dislike to surprises.

In that moment Minato knew that he had no idea who would be the winner, should he fight Naruto.

His reason told him that he would win. And maybe he could. He definitely _should_. As Hokage, it was his role, his responsibility to win that fight should it break out. But Minato did not know if he could. He did not know if he could win against Naruto in terms of power. Not because he doubted his strength nor his determination to protect his village.

No. Minato did not know if he could win against Naruto because for a fraction of a second, a tiny tiny moment of time, he had felt _something_. Something deep inside him. Something deep inside him that told him that he could not, should not and would not be able to fight Naruto, against Naruto.

And that, that tiny sliver of doubt, _that_ made Minato internally lose his calm.

For the first time in his life, Minato lost control over his determination to protect the village. The realization hit him like a ton of bricks. The icy surprise of this crack in his absolute certitude that he could and would do anything for his village trickled down his back in a wave of shivering disgust at himself.

Minato frowned. His frown turned into a steely expression of determination: he would not fail his village. If he had to fight for Konoha, he would do it and be victorious. For Konoha. Naruto had managed to surprise him, to take his control from him, and for a too long fraction of a second, he had managed to make him lose his calm. No more. Minato Namikaze, Yondaime Hokage, would keep Konoha safe.

As he kept observing the mysterious men, Minato refused to acknowledge that deep down, the crack was still there. That he was still absolutely unable to engage Naruto in a fight. And that because of this, Naruto scared him shitless.

  
  



	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6**

Unaware of his father' struggle and fears, Naruto was studying Tobi. He retracted his golden hand. Tobi shifted slightly, studying his new surroundings.

"-What are you planning, boy? You think you can keep me in? Haven't you learned anything in the past few years?"

Naruto debated the idea of answering him. He chose not to. He was rather pleased with the barrier. He couldn't sense the chakra of those outside of it, nor could he see them. He decided that this was a good thing: it meant that Tobi couldn't either and thus couldn't figure out that they were in the past. Naruto knew he would figure it out soon enough. But the later, the better. As soon as Tobi would figure out where – or when – they were, he knew the mad man would try to escape and use the opportunity to change things to his advantage. And who wouldn't? Naruto himself was using this crazy situation to his advantage, too, after all. It only seemed logical that Tobi would do the same.

The problem was that Tobi escaping into the past represented so much more risk than Naruto being there. He could do so much harm. He could kill his father, extract the Kyuubi earlier, find his past self. Naruto internally shivered at the idea of a second Tobi roaming the past. It was a recipe for disaster. World-ending disaster. He was growing tired of those. Too used to them. Hell, he was fighting against one of them even now.

Tobi twitched, snapping Naruto back to attention.

"-Why don't you just give up?

-Haven't you learned anything in the past few years?

-Throwing my words back at me? How impudent.

-You know I don't give up. Stop wasting my time trying to make me.

-One can always hope. I would think that this is a notion you're quite familiar with, aren't you, Naruto-kun?"

Naruto frowned.

"-I mean, you would have to be, still fighting me and hoping to win after so long. Aren't you tired? Don't you want to rest? You know you could. All it takes is a few words and there will be peace again. You know that. Why are you still fighting against peace? Why are you denying your friends their peace? You are the only one standing between them and a life-time of peace and dreams fulfilled, a life-time of love and joy. How cruel are you to keep that from them? From your loved ones? From your friends?

-This won't work on me, Tobi. I know you. You know me, you know your speeches don't work on me." Naruto hoped that the sound didn't carry outside of the barrier. If it did, Tobi's little speech about him being in the way of peace wouldn't gain his father to his side. Tricky bastard. "Why keep going at it? Getting desperate?" Naruto was now taunting.

"-You don't even know what true despair is." At Tobi's voice, Naruto knew he had hit a nerve. "Oh but wait, you do. Isn't despair the feeling you felt not so long ago? And boy, wouldn't you know this very particular feeling. After all, it wasn't the first time you've felt it, was it?"

Naruto tensed. He knew without a shadow of a doubt that Tobi was trying to make him snap, to make him make the mistake of letting his anger take over. He knew because it was working. Bringing up Kakashi's death, oh so fresh in his memory and in his bones, was working. Naruto forced himself to relax. Kurama helped him focus on the coming fight. They would not lose, they _could not_ lose. This was their last stand.

He couldn't afford to raise to the bait. Especially so soon after his dear friend's passing. Kakashi had been a very precious person. A teacher, a mentor, a friend... A father. He owed it to him to keep his head in the game and to win. Tobi seemed to have noticed his renewed determination.

"-Found your spine, yet?"

Both men sprung forward. They fell in a taijutsu exchange both of them already knew. Their body knew the opponent's moves. The blows were viciously strong. The fight had lost a bit of its previous heat, as if the change in surroundingshad put them in a new, evaluative phase. Naruto supposed it was the case in a sense. At least for Tobi. Well, he wasn't going to let Tobi get comfortable. He changed the rhythm of his taijutsu and successfully put Tobi in a defensive position.

The black-haired man didn't know this taijutsu. Naruto had created it during the past few years. It was a splendid mix of taijutsu from literally dozens of shinobis from all the nations. It had been crazy difficult to put it together. He had spent years on each style thanks to his shadow clones. The final product had actually been an accident. Naruto had come up with a simple training program. Needing more knowledge and experience, he had simply decided that the best way to achieve that was to create groups of clones that he would divide and send to train with as many jounin-level shinobis as he could. He had then used his clones in a more refined way by sending small groups to specialize with highly skilled specialists. It was simple but the results were astonishing. He already knew the magic of using his shadow clone technique in training but the scale on which he had used it these past few years had been mind-blowing.

After a few months at this rhythm, thus resulting in a few years-worth of training, he noticed that when fighting with his real body and a handful of clones only, his body would instinctively respondin different styles at the same time, resulting in a debilitating contradiction between different muscle memories. Naruto being Naruto, he had turned it into a strength rather than a weakness. Gai-sensei and Kakashi-sensei had been of great help. According to them and the other taijutsu specialists he trained and worked with, the results were frighteningly astonishing. And utterly unpredictable, even for the Sharingan. Combined with the Frog Kumite, which used the invisible natural energy, it was unbelievably efficient.

Kakashi's sharingan had been useless against this new style.

Even with his knowledge of over a thousand justu, Kakashi's eye simply couldn't anticipate Naruto's movements for the simple reason that there were just too many possibilities. Kakashi had explained to him that it felt and looked blurry, trembling. He didn't know if it would work against the Rinnegan, but it was effectively blocking the sharingan. Naruto could go with that. The Rinnegan was a formidable weapon to go against. Especially in taijutsu. The 360° field of vision was almost impossible to overcome.

But that was if and only if there were several bodies sharing the link. Inside the barrier, Tobi was alone. His Rinnegan would not help him now.

Despite the deadliness and unpredictability of it, the efficiency of this new style was somewhat limited by Tobi's own skills and that annoying ability to send parts of his body to another dimension. Naruto had been expecting that. His father had done an outstanding job at modifying the Hiraishin for the barrier to ground Tobi into this dimension. No question there. But the dimension Tobi could send his body to was of his own making, and short of sealing or destroying his sharingan, there was no way to keep him from using it. At least, the barrier fulfilled its role and kept Tobi from jumping-teleporting.

The Uchiha did not seem to have figured it out yet. Naruto knew it was only a matter of time.

* * *

Minato observed the opposing men inside the barrier. He couldn't see them clearly; it was like looking through an unpolished window or in an old mirror. He could hear voices but couldn't distinguish what was being said, just like through a wall.

When they started fighting, he could see that it wasn't as intense as what it had been before Naruto came to him for help – a notion he still had trouble coming to terms with. He could see the two men move in a rehearsed choreography. There was something disturbing about how Tobi seemed to move faster than Naruto.

Minato frowned. There was something nagging at the back of his mind. He had had the same feeling before, as he watched the men fight earlier. Tobi blocked Naruto's hand in _that_ particular way that made it click. A sharingan user. How could this be? Weren't the Uchihas loyal to Konoha? What did this mean?

Minato was confused and was growing really tired of being in the dark. After a few blows, Naruto became completely erratic in his movements. Had Tobi used a Raiton? Gone was the grace he had displayed until now. The blond man was all frantic jabs and blows and kicks.

Minato observed him more intently. The assault of movements had Tobi on the defensive. Could it be...? Yes, it was! Unbelievable! Naruto wasn't moving like a mad man. Well, he was, but it was intentional. He had mastered his own body to the point where the sharingan couldn't follow. Minato knew from personal experience that the sharingan could be beaten by speed but this was something else. Naruto wasn't faster than a minute ago. He was just completely unpredictable. It was like watching several people fight at the same time but using the same body. How disconcerting.

Minato took a second to remember the blonde’s words from earlier. He had said he would enjoy fighting against him. Minato realized he probably would too. The blonde man seemed like he would be a great challenge for him.

Minato spared a look to his men surrounding the barrier, supporting it. They seemed all right. He looked back inside the barrier. The fight was fierce and vicious.

He couldn't help but admire the level of taijutsu being displayed. Despite the barrier preventing him to see clearly what was happening inside, he could see that he was witnessing a fight between taijutsu masters. He would never be able to reach such a level in taijutsu. He was good at it, obviously, but it just wasn't his expertise. Assassination, seals, ninjutsu, yes, but not taijutsu.

It was pretty rare for someone to be a seal master and a taijutsu expert. The two just didn't mix. Being a seal master implied being flexible, creative, and willing to play with and around the rules of sealing. Never against or despite them, mind you; but the more one knew about seals, the more one could play with the rules. Taijutsu specialists were also creative, but not as much as seal masters, not by a long shot. The reason was simple: one couldn't take as much liberty with taijutsu moves as with ink. Taijutsu moves were created to be a perfect balance of force, balance and speed. The human body could only make so many moves at the same time. What Naruto was doing was not anatomically impossible, but it implied a vitality and capacity to absorb and create muscle memory that should be impossible to achieve in a lifetime.

The fact that he was also a seal master – and a damn good one, if Minato had to judge – was amazing and shocking. And it only added to the mystery that was Naruto.

Now, Minato wasn't only surprised by Naruto' skills in seals and in taijutsu. After all, the ninja world was full of extraordinary people. That being said, the training regimen Naruto must have put himself through in order to reach this level of mastery in at least two ninja arts would have had to be trully mindblowing.

Minato wasn’t sure he wanted to know what could possibly push a person to put himself through that.

What also surprised him was the fact that Naruto was an unknown. It was disturbing and a bit frightening that Minato, as a Kage and as a war veteran, had never heard of Naruto at all. For someone of his level to be completely under the radar spoke of truly amazing skills of evasion, in a larger sense, or of serious shortage of information. Both scenarios were worrying, in Minato's opinion.

Another thing that had Minato worried was the fact that Tobi had mentioned Kakashi a litle while ago. Minato didn't like that. He trusted Kakashi' skills, but the kid had a tendency to put himself in danger. He was still very young and Obito's recent death was still eating at him. Had something happened to him? Since Minato had been appointed Hokage, Kakashi and Rin were moving around teams, completing them when needed. They couldn’t spend as much time together as they used to. The kid worried him.

Minato frowned. He couldn't tell what but something seemed to have shifted inside the barrier. It wasn't obvious, but something had flickered through.

Suddenly, Naruto was thrown into the barrier's wall. The wall shivered for a brief moment. The blood pillars tensed. The wall stopped shivering but it changed slightly. Minato could now see clearly through it!

Naruto was standing up, one hand on the now translucid wall supporting himself. He turned to Minato, then looked around him, to the walls. Minato saw him grin as he shook himself and turned back towards Tobi. Minato relaxed: Naruto didn't seem worried about the change of the walls. As he walked back in Tobi's direction, Minato could see that he hadn't been affected by his contact with the wall. The blonde man snickered.

"-All right, we can stop playing."

So, apparently Naruto's contact with the barrier had made it... less filtering? The young man had warned Minato that his chakra could destabilize the barrier, but was that it? If such a brief contact could have that consequence, what would a prolonged contact do? Naruto must have followed Minato's train of thoughts, for his voice reached Minato:

"-Don't worry. I was expecting this to happen sooner or later. It only settled down. It will hold better next time.

-Where did you bring us, Naruto-kun?

-That's for me to know and for you to wish you'd know, Tobi."

Without any signal, the two fighters threw themselves at each other. The rhythm of the fight had changed once more, speed now being added to the moves. Naruto was flashing left and right, always trying to hit Tobi, who seemed to be totally unaffected by the blonde's blows. After a few seconds, a blow connected and sent Tobi flying. As he stood up from the ground, he spoke.

"-Ma, ma, Naruto-kun, you _are_ done playing.

-Come on, Tobi. We've been at it since this morning. I have other things to do than keep playing with you. Like killing you, for example. And stop with the –kun, would you? You sound just like that creep snake bastard. You wouldn't want to ruin your image, now, would you?

-Well, you are a busy man, Naruto. So many people to take care of. Well, it would be that way hadn't you killed them all with your stubbornness.

-This won't work, Tobi. How many times do we have to do this?

-Until you understand, Naruto. You are the one keeping them from finding peace. How many of them had to die for your sake, hum? How many comrades? How many friends? How many? I believe this morning cost you one more, didn't it? Well, it's not like you didn't see it coming, either. After all, I have been generous enough to let him live for as long as he did after what he did.

-He didn't do anything, you hear me! You do not pull him into your twisted vision of things.

-You're quite right: he didn't do anything. He was weak and unable to protect her.

-Still with that? Get a life! Grow up! Don't project your failures onto others. This world you want to create isn't peace. It isn't life. It won't bring her back!

-Don't you want to see them again? Don't you understand that you could if only you accepted your fate?

-And what fate is that? Letting you kill me because you are unable to swallow the truth? No. Fate doesn't exist."

Minato was lost. Who were they talking about?

* * *

Naruto was quite bored with his discussion with Tobi. They'd had this conversation before. Nothing was new. But it was necessary. The longer they talked, the longer his clones outside of the barrier could gather natural energy. He had sneaked them out of the clearing while creating the seal for the barrier. His father had been absorbed by the seal enough for him to send three clones out to hide. They didn't need to be inside the barrier because they didn't need to physically cross it for Naruto to gain the natural energy and enter Sage mode. And so he had to endure through another of Tobi's rants. Really, that guy never changed. It was almost laughable.

" _-Kit, you cannot let him figure it out._

_-I know, Kurama._

_-The more he talks, the more he gives to your father, and the higher the chances of him be turned against you. He's not very fond of you, right now._

_-I know. And I understand his position. For him, I'm as much a threat as Tobi is. As soon as he has the opportunity, he'll try to get me. We just have to finish Tobi off before that happens._

_-And hope for the best. Your father is a worthy opponent, I will give him that. You would like fighting against him, I'm sure of it._

_-I think I would, yeah. Maybe later, when this bastard is down. How are you?_

_-Stronger. I have good and bad news for you. Which do you want first?_

_-Surprise me._

_-Good news is, like I said, I'm stronger. I think I'm resonating with my other self and our chakra is balancing itself between us two. More precisely, I have a part of my yin chakra back._

_-Ok. Bad news?_

_-Bad news is that it will throw off your chakra control for a bit because it's not the same nature as_ _what_ _you are used to. But you should be able to gain control over it soon enough with me helping you. The other bad news is that now that you have part of my yin chakra, it might tip off your father._

_-How so?_

_-When we were fighting earlier, you only had my yang chakra. As a result, the feeling it gave off was too different from my other self's for him to connect the dots._

_-And now that I also have your yin chakra, he might make the connection with the you inside of my mother._

_-Exactly._

_-Hum. Let's hope this barrier can prevent that. How long do you think we'll need to control your yin chakra?_

_-Not long. The good thing is it will be more stable than before, which should help you with your Sage mode._

_-Good._

_-But Kit, be careful. My chakra is stronger. Try not to touch the barrier too much, it won't hold against me. And as soon as Yondaime feels my chakra, he will attack you._

_-What? Why?_

_-Some unknown fighting ninja shows up with the chakra of a beast supposedly stuck into his wife, how do you think he will react to that?_

_-Point taken. Not good. Ok, let's get this show on the road!"_

Naruto dispelled one of his clones and entered Sage mode. It was high time he put an end to Tobi's madness. The fight would be long and difficult. He knew Tobi had the First Hokage's cells implanted in his body. They had managed to destroy Edo Tensei Madara a few months ago. It had cost them Tsunade and Gaara, but it was done. This had been a huge victory. A bitter one, but huge nonetheless.

Naruto knew from experience that although Tobi had the Shodai's cells, it didn't grant him control over the bijuu. Fortunately. That had been Madara's role. For whatever reason, he had been able to activate this power. Not Tobi. The sharingan remained a powerful tool of control over the bijuu but it only worked when they were free, not sealed in a jinchuuriki. But Naruto also knew that despite this, Hashirama's cells made Tobi very dangerous. He had proven that when he killed the Mizukage two years ago.

As Naruto threw himself at Tobi, he could see him weave the seals of a powerful Katon.

The game was on.


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7**

The shinobi in Minato couldn’t help but admire the fight in front of him. Truly, this was a fight of epic proportions and fantastic skills. The swiftness of the movements, the unending rain of jutsus, the sheer power radiating from both fighters… A magnificent mix of taijutsu and ninjutsu. Nevertheless, the Hokage was nervous. This _was_ a fight of great power and skills… And it was way too close to the village for his liking.

The blood pillars of the barrier were starting to tire as Naruto and Tobi exchanged vicious blows and powerful techniques. Minato could see his men’s breathing getting harsher and sweat beginning to pour on the forehead of some of them. He motioned for the second team of blood pillars standing by to get ready to relieve their colleagues soon.

The blond Hokage focused back on the fighting men. Something had changed compared to earlier. He couldn’t shake the feeling that this Naruto was holding back somehow. Yet, his attacks were incredibly powerful. Why was he holding back? Was it because his chakra, for whatever reason, would destabilize the barrier? Minato suppressed a growl: he was getting way over this frustrating situation!

* * *

Naruto grinned. He couldn’t help it. He wasn’t exactly having the time of his life, but fighting at this level was absolutely exhilarating. He would greatly enjoy this fight if it weren’t for Tobi, who he was and what he had done. Naruto could feel his muscles tense and lash out as he danced his deadly choreography. It was tempting to just let go to just fight for the sake of fighting, just because it was fun. Like he used to do so long ago with Sasuke. They had been so young then. So innocent. But as much as Naruto wanted to lose himself in the fight, he couldn’t afford it. Too much was at stake for him to risk taking this fight for anything other than what it was: a fight for the future of the world.

Soon Naruto would be able to use Kurama’s chakra. The fox needed a few more moments to help him synchronize his new power with Sage chakra. As he kept exchanging blows with Tobi, Naruto hoped that the barrier would hold long enough to bring the Uchiha down.

As he fired a combination of wind-based attacks at his opponent, Naruto estimated that the first team of blood pillars would soon need to rest. He spared a rapid glance to them ans saw that Minato was indeed anticipating the change. He focused on the Hiraishin seal that was still active outside of the barrier and made a sealless Kage Bunshin appear next to the Yondaime.

* * *

Minato jumped slighlty when a clone of Naruto appeared just next to him. The clone, while tempted to snigger at his father’s reaction, started to speak before Minato could manage any other reaction than the very icy and murderous glare he was sending him.

“-Have the third team ready.” The clone’s tone was direct and commanding. Something Minato hadn’t been on the receiving end of for quite some time. It wasn’t exactly pleasant.

“-The second team is ready to take over.

-They won’t be enough. Have then take over together with the third team. The first team will rest to gather their strength but they’ll be the support.

-What is he going to do?

-He’s going to fight full force. The barrier _needs_ to hold.

-And if it doesn’t?”

The clone didn’t offer an answer. He kept observing the fight from outside of the barrier as Minato motioned for his men to follow the younger man’s orders. The clone felt a small burst of chakra coming from the original.

“-Now.”

The two teams of blood pillars relived their tied colleagues and started powering up the barrier, leaving less distance between themselves.

“Have then hold this barrier, Namikaze.”

The Hokage narrowed his eyes at the clone, who was still not looking at him, fully focussed in his original. He was pretty sure he hadn’t mistaken the tine: this was a threat more than an order.

“-Again, what happens if the barrier _doesn’t_ hold?”

Minato’s voice was clipped, deep, serious, and just as threatening. The clone turned his head and looked him in the eyes.

“- If it doesn’t hold,” a shiver went up Minato’ spine. Nothing good was going to follow these words. “you make sure you and your men evacuate, you do the same with the village, and you better hope like hell that I can finish Tobi off before he sets a foot outside of this clearing.”

The clone dispersed, letting his creator know his job was done.

Minato was glad his ANBU were already working on the possible evacuation of the village. His instincts were telling him things would not go so smoothly.

* * *

Naruto exhaled as he received confirmation that all the blood pillars were in place. Damn, his father could give a nasty glare! The clone’s memory was very vivid.

“- _Kurama?_

_-Ready whenever you are, Kit._

_-The barrier won’t hold, will it?_

_-’Fraid not._

_-Well, not much we can do about it now. Show time!”_

Naruto’s body changed as power surged through him. He could feel his very cells vibrating with energy. His whole body was encased in a white cloak of trimming chakra, black lines coming from his stomach and going to his feet and hands. He guessed only the color changed from his usual appearance while in bijuu mode.

He heard a collective gasp coming from the blood pillars, who had to adjust to this boost of power no doubt destabilizing the barrier. Naruto supposed that Minato had gasped too but the fact that he wasn’t murderously trying to take down the barrier to fight answers out of him comforted Naruto. It meant that the barrier was still strong enough to block his chakra.

Tobi didn’t waste any time reacting: he launched himself at the blonde with a furious growl, Mokuton spear prolonging his arm and aimed at Naruto. The young man focused entirely on his charging opponent, pushing anything outside of the barrier out of his mind.

At last, this was the real fight. The fight he needed to win. Nothing else mattered. Not the barrier, not his breathing father. Only Tobi.

* * *

Minato couldn’t believe what he was seeing. First, Naruto transformed into… a sun-like thing. If the blood pillars’ reaction was anything to go by, this change in appearance was accompanied by a tremendous increase of power. But then Tobi aimed at the blonde’s head with a wooden spear coming out of his arm! The Mokuton! How was that even possible? The ability was thought to have disappeared with the First Hokage decades ago! Seriously, today was just becoming ridiculous!

Inside the barrier was chaos. Where he had previously thought that the attacks were powerful and intimidating, it wa smostly the case considering how close this was happening to the village. But now? This was just plain crazy.

Minato, as a Kage, a war veteran and a terrifying shinobi himself, was used to displays of power. After all, he had met the jinchuuriki of th eHachibi and his brother, next in line to be Raikage. His sensei, one of the Sannin, had also been close friend with Sakumo Hatake, the White Fang. Minato had seen them train together on multiple occasions. Hiruzen Sarutobi was still a famously powerful shinobi, to say the least. All in all, Minato thought he knew what power was.

As he observed the very air inside the barrier burning from a white-hot Katin jutsu, and the earth being torn apart in a fight of will between earth and wood, the clone’s words resonated in his head. _Have them hold this barrier, Namikaze. If it doesn’t hold,_ _you make sure you and your men evacuate, you do the same with the village, and you better hope like hell that I can finish Tobi off before he sets a foot outside of this clearing._

Minato reached for his special kunai in his kunai pouch. He sent several coded bursts of chakra through the ANBU seal in his shoulder, ordering the HQ to finalize the preparations to evacuate and protect the village. He put himself in a battle-ready position. If the barrier came down, he, the Yondaime Hokage, would do his utmost to defeat the men before him. He would go after Tobi first: if Naruto had wanted to harm the village, he would have done so already, He had ample time and opportunity to. Minato dearly wished that the devastating fight would not come to Konoha.


	8. Chapter 8

Naruto twisted out of the way. The wooden cage fell to the ground with a resounding sound. Tobi didn’t even bother finishing the technique: Naruto was already out of range. They had been fighting for a while. Honestly, Naruto didn’t even know how long. Time was irrelevant to him right now.

Kumara’s yin chakra boost made things so much easier for him. It balanced his Sage chakra perfectly. Naruto didn’t even need to make seals to create jutsus: he could just think of an attack and it simply came into existence. Such was the power of two natural chakras combined. Tobi didn’t have such an advantage. But he made up for it with his Mokuton, which did funny things to Naruto’s chakra.

The Mokuton in itself was relatively harmless. But using the Edo Tensei for years had perverted Tobi’s chakra. This resulted in the Mokuton perverting Naruto’ Sage and bijuu natural chakra. It made it rot somehow. After all, it was a dead chakra against life itself. Whenever one of Tobi’s attacked connected with him, Naruto could feel a coldness seeping into the affected limb. He could feel Tobi’s rotten chakra crawling under his skin, similar to worms, twisting and slithering and eating away his flesh. Kumara was burning it out from the inside as quickly as he could, purifying Naruto. But the damaged skin could not be revived and had to be peeled away, burnt by the chakra cloak. The feeling was painful and bloody, tainting the whiteness of the chakra with a pink mist. And it just hurt. Constantly. Naruto powered through, unwilling to lose his focus simply because his flesh was melting away. It would be replaced soon enough.

His strategy was simple: wear Tobi out. Naruto’s chakra reserves were basically endless, especially while being in resonance with Kyuubi inside his mother. Tobi’s reserves were massive but limited. Usually, Tobi would use everything and everyone around him to power his attacks, draining them until life itself left them. This was why Naruto created the barrier. Tobi used life as fuel. Once he had drained the life of all plants and small bugs trapped within the barrier, he would have to use his own reserves. And there was just no way he could outlast Naruto.

It was a race against time. Naruto’s powerful chakra was eating away at the barrier. There was just no way around this. They had thought about putting up a barrier before, a few months ago. They could never manage it. They just couldn’t find a way to block Tobi in. Naruto’s knowledge of the Hiraishin was incomplete, no matter how good he was with fuuinjutsu or the technique. And Kakashi was never a true seal master. But the main problem always had been that Naruto was just too powerful. No barrier could ever withstand the combination of his Sage mode and bijuu chakra. The only way would have been to be the blood pillar himself, but his special chakra would have made the whole matrix way too unstable. It was just the most frustrating conundrum.

So Naruto continued to jump around, avoiding the various Mokuton attacks aiming at him, while having to destroy all the resulting wood surrounding him. He had to avoid being trapped at all cost.

* * *

Minato was relieved: he had just received confirmation that all ANBU were ready to evacuate the village within a moment’s notice if needed. He hoped it wouldn’t come to that. He also hoped no one would somehow stumble on the fight happening here. One of his teams was keeping guard, keeping a tight perimeter around the clearing.

He couldn’t really tell what was happening inside. There was a lot of smoke, and charred wood everywhere. The ground was unrecognizable, the rocks torn to shreds or melting into pools of lava. It would be a nightmare to clean up this mess when it would be all over.

Naruto narrowly escaped another branch shooting for him but his elbow came into contact with the barrier wall. The wall vibrated, humming with the muffled sound of power passing through. Suddenly, Minato could feel the insane amount of chakra saturating the air inside the barrier. His own chakra network felt sluggish and heavy for a second before the wall stabilized itself. Naruto hadn’t stopped moving, completely focused on his fight.

“-Relief!” The blood pillar closest to where Naruto had touched the barrier yelled out. He was trembling, sweat pouring down his forehead. One of the first blood pillars swiftly came and took over.

Minato, not taking his eyes off the fight, motioned for the man to stand down and rest.

The masked man, Tobi, threw one of his wooden spears straight at the wall, where Naruto had touched it. A white hand made of pure chakra shot out of Naruto, racing the spear, stopping it just inches away from Minato’s face. Both hand and spear immediately retracted behind the wall, as if burnt by the barrier.

Minato’s heart skipped a beat. That chakra! Impossible!

It had only lasted an instant but he was sure of it. There was no way he would ever mistake Kyuubi’s chakra. What did it mean? How could this be?

Kushina was miles and miles away, on a joined mission with another team. There was no way for him to check in with her. Was she dead? Would he not have felt his seal break and the Kyuubi be extracted? She was fine just a few weeks ago. How could this kid already be able to control the bijuu after so little time?

The young Hokage inhaled and exhaled slowly. His blood was boiling. He forced himself to wait. Maybe he had made a mistake. The chakra did feel slightly different. Maybe it wasn’t Kyuubi’s chakra. Maybe it was another bijuu’s. In any case, Naruto was now at the very top of his capture list.

* * *

Naruto bit down on a particularly colorful curse. _Fucking damn fucking Tobi, that son of a bitch! Fuck him!_ There was no way this last exchange didn’t damage the barrier. First Naruto, then both him and the Mokuton going through! No way Tobi hadn’t noticed that it was becoming porous. For now, it wasn’t porous enough that things (or people) could get in or out. But it wouldn’t stay that way very long. As long as he didn’t touch the barrier anymore, it should all be fine.

“ _-_ _Kit, your pops knows…_

 _-_ _Fuck my life!_ ”

Well, this was just peachy. Of course his dad would know! But Naruto had hoped he could get a little bit more time before they got to that point. The risk was that since they had used the Hiraishin formula, he _knew_ his father would to able to find a way to Hiraishin in sooner or later. He had to finish the fight before his dad got in and before Tobi got out.

For a fraction of a second, he thought of Tsunade: had she been alive, such a tricky situation would have her inner gambler in an ecstatic fit. Naruto smiled.

_I hope you’re enjoying the show, Baa-chan! You and all the others! ‘Cause this is gonna bang!_

* * *

Naruto suddenly changed the pace of the fight. Simply put, he made Hell rain on Tobi. The blond had two clones out, and all three of them were constantly attacking the masked ninja. Surprisingly, so far said man seemed relatively unscathed by this unending stream of blows against him.

“-AAAaargh!”

Tobi’s pained scream resounded in the clearing as his arm was torn from him in a spray of blood. It flew out and through the barrier to land just a few feet away from it. Immediately a white arm of chakra came through and picked it up, bringing it back inside.

Minato forwned. The ground was burnt where the limb had landed. Completely charred and blackened. And he most definitely had not made a mistake: this _was_ Kyuubi’s chakra that was currently burning away at the dead limb, shredding it to pieces and literally vaporizing it.

In his mind, Minato went over every detail of the seal he could remember. He needed to be inside that barrier.

* * *

“ _-Eheh I think he didn’t appreciate that!_

_-You think? Well, let me tell you, kit, I didn’t appreciate that either. That chakra is nasty._

_-I know, Kurama. I’m sorry you have to go through this. But there is no other way, not if we want to stop him from regenerating from his arm._

_-I know. But shit, he tastes foul! Anyway, as long as you don’t make me get rid of anymore body parts, we’re good._

_-…_

_-Kit?_

_-Would it work?_

_-What?_

_-Consuming him._

_-Are you mad? I love you, Naruto, but I’m not absorbing anymore of this tainted stuff._

- _Will. It. Work?_ ”

Kurama fell silent for an instant. He had known things would come to that eventually. His host, his friend, still hadn’t realized it, but this was the only way to truly get rid of Tobi. And he just figured it out.

“- _Kurama_.”

The blond’s voice was unwavering, commanding. This was not his friend. This was the Supreme Commander of the Allied Shinobi Forces, talking to one of his assets, ordering him to give an answer. Kurama didn’t mind. He knew the kid had no choice.

“- _Yes._

_-Is it safe?_

_-What do you think?_

_-Is it safe for you?_

_-For me? Yes. For you, not so much._

_-Explain._

_-I have no physical body, not since your dad sealed me into you. Tobi’s chakra won’t affect me much._

_-But it will affect me._

_-Yes._

_-Will it kill me?_

_-I don’t think so, not if I can help it._

_-But it will hurt._

_-Like a motherfucker._

_-Great._

_-You’re welcome. Also, you probably will be sick as fuck._

_-But it will work._

_-Yes._ ”

* * *

Wood shot out of the ground everywhere inside the barrier, twisting and turning and trying to corner a never-still Naruto. Tobi was snarling, holding his bleeding stump with his remaining hand. Naruto erupted in flames, turning on himself and incinerating any and all organic matter within a few meters around him. Tobi grabbed onto one of the burning branches flying out and slammed the red coals into his torn shoulder, cauterizing the wound in a gnarled yell of pain morphing into pure hatred.

The smell of burnt flesh wafted to Minato, bringing back memories of a war-torn burning field and a trembling Kakashi who should have been too young to be soaked in that much blood. There was still no chakra seeping through the barrier, but surges of energy were starting to get through when jutsus collided with the walls. It was only a matter of time before he would be able to get in. Only a matter of time before _they_ would be able to get out.

* * *

The wood seemed to be starting to gain some terrain on Naruto, forcing him to Hiraishin a few times to get out of range. Tobi seemed to have understood that Naruto was his best weapon against the barrier.

The constant sprouting of wood from ashes and smithereens did seem to affect him: the masked man was slowing down his disappearances.

“-Sir!”

The sharp voice of one of the sensors shook Minato’s focus away from the fight. His eyes followed the man’s pointed finger. The grass around the barrier was slowly wilting.

* * *

Naruto cursed. He could feel life seeping back in. He could literally feel the bright energy reluctantly flowing back into the barrier, seeping up into the wood he hadn’t managed to burn, thick and slow and struggling against the unnatural pull of Tobi’s Mokuton. Like slurping mud through a thin straw.

_No!_

He could not let it happen! Tobi was burning through his chakra. It was working. With just one arm to form seals, he had to put out more chakra than necessary to use his Mokuton. Just a few more minute without access to life and he would be on his last drops.

_No!_

No way he would fail so close to success! Not now!

He redoubled in his efforts to bury Tobi under powerful attacks. He had to keep making him use more chakra than he could pull from the ground. He divided his attention and started going through a long series of hand-seals.

He had hoped he wouldn’t have to use this. This could do so much damage.

One last seal. Getting to the barrier. His left hand slapping the translucent wall. A wave of shimmering power. A bright light. A resounding sound, deep and vibrating, like a huge electrified gong.

* * *

It all went so fast.

The grass dying. A decision. A flash. The surge of pure energy. The vibration of the power rattling his bones and his organs. The sharp brittle light illuminating from all angles and flattening the landscape into a world without shadows. The elation and unadulterated bloodlust emanating from Tobi. A thunderous and angry command to stand down. The ringing in his ears.

The sudden wet, hot red splattering his face and the faint copper taste of drops of bright life tainting his lips.

The bright blue of too deep and understanding eyes, hardened by anger trying to hide fear and something Minato could not quite figure out.

A deep voice, snarling around words of absolute authority that seem to link directly to his nervous system, rooting him in place.

“- I told you to stand. Down. Shinobi.”

A reminder of what he is. A tool in the face of pure power.

“-She’s all right.”

A soft, low acknowledgement of who he is, whispered by a mouth that tries not to let out the pain of the wooden spear piercing through the chest that is just inches away from his own, intact and holding his breath in.

“-Gotcha.”

A crooked smile, just breathing a word of victory to no one else but himself as bloodied hands clap into a single seal that unleashes something that Minato’s brain can’t even process.

Pure white light takes hold of the blond man who is panting in front of him, air bubbling in a red gargle around the coarse bark dripping with his blood. The light slides around the spike and from his back all the way to the masked shinobi, too fast for him to do anything but try to step back. Too late. The light is all around him now. Black lines solidify around him, linking both men to each other.

The masked man screams. It is a sound Minato has never heard. Absolute hatred.

The light is like acid, burning away at the wood. And the clothes, and the flesh.

And the screams somehow seem stronger despite the throat that slowly gets dissolved.

And the image of a body held up in the air by back lines and white light is burnt onto Minato’s retina. The sound of sizzling slowly replaces the anguished broken voice, not covering the growl emanating from the man still standing in front of him.

The acrid smells lodges itself at the back of his own throat, coating his tongue.

Minato dimly registers that the landscape slowly regains its shadows as the barrier walls lose their light and simply vanish.

Sound comes rushing back and snap him into reacting to the pained shrieks of his men dropping onto their knees, their limbs seizing up. The ground is smoking where the walls used to be. He rushes to the man closest to him.

“-Don’t touch him!” The voice is strong but whizzy, metallic.

“-What have you done?!”

Now Minato is the one snarling but doesn’t stop his hand from reaching out.

“-Don’t!”

This time he does stop. There is something in that voice. It is strained, and the light and the black lines are still there, still doing he didn’t know what to the body trapped in them, and Naruto dismisses him like he doesn’t exist, closing his eyes and letting out a guttural growl as his face contorts into a mask of effort and pain.

Minato wants answers and wants them now. He wants to beat them out of the blonde man. But his men are down and they’re more important.

He notices it now: his hair standing up on his skin the closer he gets to the ANBU on his knees. He knows this ANBU. He knows what his chakra feels like.

And he know he shouldn’t be able to feel it licking at his skin, burning it, outside of his man’s body.

He looks over at the rest of them.

Something is terribly wrong.

He knows something is horribly horribly wrong with his men. He knows this because there was that one time his genin teammate fell to an unknown jutsu and it backfired and it overloaded his chakra system and burnt his coils. Minato remembers his childhood friend dying while his body was shaking with horrible fits, smoke slowly rising from his limbs, blood dripping from his eyes and ears as his insides were torn to shreds by the chakra flowing through him.

And his men, down on their knees, unconscious, or hands digging into the ground as they’re riding the agonizing spasms ripping through their body, are just a few chakra fluctuations away from completely breaking at the seam, their chakra coils struggling not to explode, uncontrollably sending waves of foreign chakra out, rejecting it too late.

Minato steps back. He can’t help them. Not yet. He will kill them if he gets closer.

* * *

It hurt. It hurt down to his bones. Deeper. It hurt in his core. His chest hurt. _Damn it_. He knew his father was going to get into the barrier. And he knew Tobi would try and take advantage of it. He thought he would try and talk Minato against him like earlier. He must have pissed him off more than he thought: Tobi had gone straight for the kill. And now, Naruto had a hole in his chest. And it hurt.

He could feel his chakra burning away the plague that was Tobi. But the man’s chakra was vicious, a viscous decaying tar, rotting and spoiling everything it touched. And Naruto could feel it seep into his lung, burning a trail between his ribs, tainting his blood. He could feel it in his whole body, in his every cell, in his bones, in his coils, pulsing like an infected wound, flowing in his veins like boiling acid.

He could feel Kurama’s intense focus. His body had become the battle field, the channel for his friend’s fight against death.

He knew it was working. Tobi was fighting it as much as he could, trying to escape everywhere and anywhere. But Naruto had him. He would not let him escape now. The wood in his chest guaranteed his success: Tobi was rooted in this plane, unable to escape in his dimension.

He closed his eyes and focused. Now would be the most delicate part: the moment Tobi would realize he was losing and dying. Tobi buckled against the inevitable, fighting it with everything he could. But it was too late.

Naruto panted. It was over.

He had done it.

He directed his eyes in his father’s direction. The men were down. Guilt twisted in his guts. Had he killed any? He didn’t know. He couldn’t feel any of them. Or anything. Just the constant burn in his every cell. It was all he could do not to shatter, not to let out his agony in a scream that would no doubt tear his vocal chords. But he couldn’t. He was not safe here. His father was not an ally. Naruto’s fight was not over.

He hoped the men would be healed. Truth be told, there was little chance of them ever recovering. If they had survived, their whole chakra system was burnt to a crisp, utterly overwhelmed by Naruto’s own power.

The young hopeful ninja in him felt guilty and sorry for them. The hardened veteran didn’t. They were ninjas. They knew life could change, could stop, any day. It was part of their duty. Naruto vaguely realized that it was unfair of him to hold them to the same standards as the rest of his own men: that every living shinobi was a soldier, a tool, a weapon in the war against death. These men, his father’s men, were alive: in his books, they had won.

His father.

He needed to leave, before doing anything stupid. He saw Minato, his father, his breathing father, begin to turn towards him. He hadto leave.

It tore him apart.

He _had_ to leave.

A burst of chakra. A flash.


	9. Chapter 9

Minato turned and looked at Naruto. It was over. It was time for the young man to answer his questions. Naruto, panting, looked at him.

Who was he?

Minato moved in his direction, never taking his eyes away from Naruto’s. Something passed in the blonde’s eyes. Minato _knew_ he was going to leave. He knew he couldn’t let him. Not when so much was still unanswered.

A burst of chakra.

Minato threw his chakra at the other blonde, latched onto him.

A flash.

His feet were on charred earth.

Naruto’s eyes widened.

They were back where he had first followed the blonde to, so many hours ago. Minato could feel a huge presence approaching them. Fast but cautious. The presence was somewhat familiar. Without moving his body, Minato looked around him.

The landscape was ravaged. What happened here? Obviously a battle. A big one. So much bigger than the one he had just witnessed. Nothing had survived here. The sky was angry, the air thick with smells he wished he didn’t know, smoke and lingering chakra. It was suffocating.

The presence was getting closer to them, behind him on his left side. But Minato didn’t dare move for fear of Naruto disappearing.

“-Namikaze!” The rough voice made Minato’s body turn on instinct.

“-What?”

His eyes widened. He turned his head back around so fast he pulled a muscle. He barely registered the pain. Minato hadn’t been the one answering the call.

Naruto seemed to realize it: shock, then frustration quickly passed on his face before it transformed into a blank mask. The young man couldn’t quite manage to hide the anger that still burnt in his eyes, which were glaring in the newcomer’s direction, ignoring Minato.

The confused Hokage followed the glare and inhaled sharply. Before him stood A, son of the Sandaime Raikage, supposedly his successor. He looked older than what Minato remembered of their meeting, a few years ago. And he was looking at him like he had seen a ghost.

Minato frowned. A’s eyes sharpened. The future Raikage turned his head towards Naruto and spoke briskly.

“-Explain.

-Not now.” Naruto’s tone left no room for argument.

“-What is the meaning of this?!” Minato had reached his limit. “Who are you?” The question was directed at Naruto. Was he a Namikaze? How could that be?

“-Not now.” The younger man repeated himself. “I’m taking you back.”

Before Minato could protest, Naruto put one hand on his shoulder. In a flash, Minato’s feet were back on Konoha’s green grass, and he could feel his men’s presence around the clearing, still writhing in pain from their chakra burns.

He was getting sick and tired of being transported and ordered around.

“-Wait!” His authoritative voice seemed to keep an already-retreating Naruto from leaving. For now. “I have questions, and I want them answered.

-I know. But I can’t answer you. I know I told you I would, but I won’t. It’s better that way.

-No, it’s not. You _will_ answer my questions.

-No. You won’t force me to, and you know it.” Naruto’s tone was factual, not challenging.

Minato glared at him with venom. As much as he hated Naruto and himself for it, the younger blonde was right. Said man sighed, his shoulders sagging ever so slightly.

“-Look, I understand you. Really, I do. You’re the Hokage. You’re worried about a lot of things right now, including me. I could be a serious threat for Konoha for all you know. And you probably have questions that have less to do with the village’ security. You’re right: I have the answers. But I won’t give them to you. Not because I don’t want to. Quite the contrary, believe me; but because it’s best if you don’t know them.”

He didn’t speak for a few moments, piercing Minato with an intense look the Hokage couldn’t quite decipher. There were so many things in that look.

“-I have to go. I’ve stayed here too long already.”

The younger man’s voice had changed. It was strained, almost as if he was struggling with himself. He took half a step back then stopped himself.

“-I will tell you this, however: some of what Tobi said earlier was true. I am an orphan. Always have been.

-A, if it _was_ him, called you a Namikaze.

-I can’t.

-Yeah, I got it: you won’t give me the answer.” Minato’s voice was like a whip, lashing out with all the frustrations of the day. Naruto chuckled at him, a wet, whizzy sound that ended in a subtle wince.

“-For all it’s worth, I _am_ sorry. Besides, my parents died the day I was born, so who knows who I really am?” His face got serious. He seemed to be debating something with himself. “Don’t destroy the seal for the barrier.

-Why?” Minato’s voice was suspicious. “You were the one who insisted I destroy it when we made it.

-I changed my mind.

-Convenient.” Silence greeted his remark. “Why?”

Naruto’s face became deadly serious. When he spoke, his voice was low and determined.

“-One day, you will need to protect someone you love from destruction. One day, you will know something bad is about to happen. One day, you will have to be strong and make horrible decisions.” Naruto’s voice resonated in his ears, his words almost a prophecy. “That day I want you to use this barrier as protection. That day I want you to protect those who are precious to you. And if that barrier can help you accomplish that, then I will be happy and it will have served its purpose. _Protect them_ , Minato. Don’t let them be taken from you.”

Minato couldn’t speak. Something was twisting in his guts.

“-I have to go now.”

Minato felt a sense of urgency take him.

“-Will I ever see you again?

-At least once.

-Will you answer my questions then?

-I won’t be in any shape to answer anyone’s questions then.

-Then when? When will I see you and get my answers?

-You will have to make it happen. You will have to make it so we meet more than once. Then, perhaps, you will have your answers.” A brief pause. “Take care of yourself, Minato.”

In a flash, Naruto was gone.

As Naruto’s last words, oh so softly spoken, got taken away by the slight breeze, Minato couldn’t help but feel empty. He had just lost a part of himself.


	10. Epilogue

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is the last chapter of 'Glimpse', people

Naruto writhed in pain.

_Make it stop._

He could feel the cold slab of earth under him, chaffing at his skin. Everything hurt so much.

_Make it stop._

His stomach twisted, a stab of a rusted kunai playing around in his guts. He managed to turn around and hot, boiling acid came up burning its way through his body. There was nothing left for him to vomit but the blood of his raw throat. He could vaguely hear the sounds of his dry heaving.

A pained yell tore past his damaged trachea, bringing white hot tears to his eyes as he tried to ride the wave of nausea shaking his whole body.

Every movement hurt. The earth under his knees was scraping his bones to the marrow. His forehead was melting into the floor. His teeth were ripped out of his clenched jaws.

His every cell was a world of agony, taking away his awareness of what was an arm, a hand, a foot. Everything melted into an unending river of lava, cooking his flesh away from his bones, pulling and ripping every muscle, every tendon.

_Makeitstopmakeitstopmakeitstopmakeitstop._

* * *

“-How is he?

-It’s bad.

-No improvement?

-I can’t tell. I can’t use chakra on him.” Sakura’s voice was laced with pain and frustration.

A was frowning, worry for their friend and commander obvious in his eyes. It had been three days. Three days since Naruto had reappeared in a flash, dropped to the ground and emptied his stomach. It had been hell for Sakura to stay in the sideline during the fight. The moment the sensor team had confirmed that Tobi was nowhere to be felt, she had rushed to A’s and Naruto’s side.

She had found him on his knees, his face covered in grime and tears, heaving and shaking and _oh my god, he was vomiting blood_!

She hadn’t lost a second going to him, healing hands already extended while A stayed on the lookout.

She would never forget the sound that ripped through her friend’s throat at her approach. She hadn’t even touched him. He had convulsed, pure pain and hurt breaking his voice, chakra flaring wildly and burning her.

She had immediately suppressed her chakra. All of it, forcing it down to a whisper.

The cries had stopped, replaced by barely there sobs and broken growls and moans.

Her friend was in so much pain. She could see his skin sizzling up. She could see the hole in his shirt. She could see the skin trying to mend itself but burning, but bleeding, but melting and contorting and _why wasn’t Naruto healing_?

For four hours she had been unable to get to him. No one had been able to get to him. A couple sensors had tried to feel what was happening. Both of them had ended on their knees, vomiting. Sakura quickly had taken them away and let them rest. One of the few surviving Hyuuga had almost gone blind trying to see what was happening.

After four hours, Naruto had finally passed out, body still shaking. She had managed to get to him without triggering any reaction. A had picked him up to carry him to the improvised field hospital – too full, too many people, too much pain in those sounds. Naruto had violently flinched at the contact, his skin peeling off where A was touching him, covering the Raikage’ skin with blood.

They had put him down on the ground – it had been a long time since they had field beds.

Naruto had been in and out of consciousness since then. Always shaking, his stomach fighting against nothing, his dry heaving tearing at his throat, his flesh burning with fever. His chakra fluctuating so wildly they had had to move him again so he wouldn’t hurt anyone. His pained cries had kept her awake most of the time. She had only slept when the Raikage was there to watch over him. But A wasn’t there much. There was too much to do. Keeping things organized. And be on the lookout. Always.

For years now Sakura and A (and so many others that were not there anymore but she couldn’t think about that) had been on this field, unable to leave because this was war and war never stopped. And someone had to be there to make sure they were ready for whenever Tobi or his monstrosities would get back. They always did. They always came back.

“-Sakura, I’ve got him. Go.” Ino’s voice pierced through the worried fog that was Sakura’s mind.

The pink hair medic absently looked up at her friend. Ino was still there. She was missing an ear, and part of her hair would never grow back. And that scar on her jaw would never fade.

Sakura stood up, got to her corner of the tent and sat down on the dirty sheet that was her blanket. Ino sat down next to her and handed her a strip of dried food. Sakura forced herself to munch on the mix of tasteless cereals and proteins. They hadn’t had vegetables in weeks. She had ordered to keep whatever fresh supplies they had for the others. She could extract more nutriments than most people from the ration bars they still had in quantities. She missed the taste of vegetables and fruits. Not meat. Never again meat. Not since they had started burning the bodies of their friends and the smell had been everywhere, clinging to their clothes and hair and shreds of remaining sanity.

* * *

The pain had lessened. His body wasn’t burning up anymore. His bones felt brittle and his stomach was still a pool of red hot lava. But he could feel the earth on his back. He could feel it under his arms and legs. Under his head. He could feel something else than agony. He slowly tried to open his eyes.

Pink hair and worried green eyes. And the pain hit him.

Not the mind bending physical pain. But he couldn’t breathe. So much. They had lost so much. He couldn’t tell which way was up. He was just drowning in a world of sorrow, anger, pain, blood blood blood. Decay, death. Despair was gnawing at his insides. Sadness was shattering his mind. Anger was tearing him apart. The cold hands of death latched onto him and he was cold, and burning up, and he couldn’t breathe.

“- _Naruto_!”

He didn’t know who this Naruto was but he knew that voice. That deep gravely voice. He latched onto it, swimming against the waves of utter blackness that threatened to drown him.

A breath. Life. Light. Air in his lungs.

* * *

Naruto gasped for some air and opened his eyes. Sakura was right there, kneeling next to him. The blonde man turned around and heaved. She rubbed a cold wet towel onto his back and his neck, softly speaking words of comfort.

His shaking hand slowly came up from the ground and grabbed hers, squeezing tightly, anchoring him in reality.

“-I’m right here, Naruto.”

The nausea passed. Her friend waited, still hunched over the bucket that had been placed under him. Slowly he turned towards her, hand still tightly holding hers.

“-Sakura.”

His voice was rough, broken from screaming so much.

“-I’m right here.

-It hurts.

-I know. I’m so sorry.”

Her chest felt too tight. Naruto, who always seemed so strong, looked so utterly fragile in that moment. She knew he was hurting more than most people because of the war. But he had always been better than others at masking his negative feelings. He hadn’t had a choice. He had to be strong for them. For all of them. She hadn’t seen him break his strong facade in years now.

She couldn’t even imagine how much pain he had to be in for him to let her see him like this.

He was holding onto her hands like a life line. He slowly laid back down, never letting go, bringing her hand onto his naked chest as he fought a violent shiver. He was deliberately taking deep and slow breaths, his eyes closed.

She could see his face slowly letting go of the pain that was still wracking his body: she could see his muscles spasming up. Slowly, her fragile friend was fading in front of her, replaced by the strong leader he had become. He brought his other arm up and put it on his face, fingers clenching.

Still breathing slowly and keeping his eyes closed, he spoke in his low and broken voice.

“-How long was I out?

-Almost four days.

-How are the troops?

-All right, all things considered.

-How many did I injured?

-You didn’t.

-Liar.”

She sighed.

“-One. We moved you in time. You made a few people sick but they’ll recover.

-Who did I injure?

-Hiba Hyuuga. His eyes.

-Will he recover?

-I don’t know.”

The silence stretched a few minutes.

“-How are you?”

Sakura hadn’t intended for her voice to be this quiet. Naruto took a few minutes to answer.

“-I’ve never felt so much pain in my life. Kurama is trying to rein it in.”

* * *

Breathing slowly in and out.

Naruto focused on doing just that for a while. Sakura’s small hand in his was like an anchor, centering his whole being around something that wasn’t pain and despair.

He could feel Kurama’s endless battle against Tobi’s chakra, could feel it burning in his bones. He felt sick. His whole body was an open wound, his blood sluggish in his veins, fighting against the decaying, dead feeling crawling against his organs. The tailed beast in his belly didn’t answer any of his calls, too focussed on his task.

Naruto let him be. He had enough to deal with.

He took a few moments to just process things.

It was over.

He had done it.

Tobi was gone.

He held his breath, keeping it in, as if letting it go would make the impossible reality break.

Slowly, he exhaled and let go of Sakura’s hand. He fought against the pain and very cautiously sat up.

* * *

Naruto couldn’t repress a pained groan as he sat up, very slowly putting one hand behind him to hold himself up. He turned his head towards her.

His eyes locked onto hers.

“-It’s over.”

His voice was soft, barely above a whisper. She didn’t react.

“-Sakura, it’s over. He’s not coming back.”

She couldn’t move.

Slowly she raised her arms and touched his cheeks.

“-It’s over.”

Her hands went pas his cheeks and she was holding his head on her shoulder, and his voice was just next to her ear.

“-It’s over.”

And they held onto each other. She did not know who was shaking. She did not know whose voice was repeating those words again and again.

_It’s over._

* * *

Naruto swallowed the bile coming up in his throat. He was physically exhausted. His guts twisted painfully. It had been four days since he woke up in the tent. He had been bed-ridden for most of that time, his body fighting against the liquid fire that flowed in his veins. Kurama hadn’t lied: it hurt like a motherfucker.

The physical pain wasn’t the worst. It was the worst he had ever had to feel, but it was nothing compared to the absolute despair that was constantly crushing him. Kurama had assured him that it was all an effect of Tobi’s remaining chakra in him. The fox was working continuously to absorb and destroy the remnants of Tobi’s energy, but it would take a few months to get completely rid of it. And Naruto was going to feel sick the whole time.

“-Are you ready?”

Sakura’s voice reached him from behind, soft and inquiring.

He didn’t answer. Was he ready?

Was he ready to go home? What was home anyway? Could they still call it home if everyone was gone? If everything had changed? Could they go back to a normal life after spending so long on this devastated plain that was stretching in front of him?

Sakura’s hand found its way into his, linking their fingers. He knew she had trouble letting go of him. He didn’t mind. He needed something to hold him into reality too.

“-You’re worried.”

It wasn’t a question.

Yes, he was worried. Deep down, he knew that a good portion of what he was feeling came from the chakra his body was still fighting. Tobi had indeed lived in absolute despair.

“-What if...” Naruto let his voice carry to her ears without turning towards her. “What if we can’t do this, Sakura?

-Do what?

-Live.

-We don’t have a choice. We owe it to them to live. We owe it to them to take care of who’s left.

-So many. So many have left.

-I know.

-Konoha is never going to be the same without them.

-No. But we are here. We will make a new Konoha.”

Naruto didn’t answer for a very long time. He felt Sakura turn towards him.

“-This is not what is bothering you.

-What have I done?

-You won the war.

-But how? How did I do it?” He turned towards her.

The day before he had told her everything. He had told her about the Hiraishin and the fight. And Konoha. Green, lush Konoha. Air pure as life and sky clear and blue. And his father. His last words to him.

A had been there too. The three of them had talked until very late about what had happened and what it meant. No one had any answer to give.

Sakura pulled him around, making him face the group of exhausted shinobis in front of him. Hundreds where there used to be thousands. Hundreds of faces too gaunt to be healthy. Hundreds of bags all packed up. Hundreds of eyes slowly turning his way. Eyes that were lost, eyes that were bright. Eyes that were red and eyes that were wet. Eyes that couldn’t quite believe that they got to go home and never ever come back to this place. Eyes that spoke of too much suffering and hope and sadness and victory and loss and life.

“-Look. Look at them, Naruto.

-Sakura…

-These people are going home thanks to you. We’re going home thanks to you. And we will carry the memory of our friends with us. We are _all_ going home, Naruto. To our family.”

At that his hand flinched. Did he have a family waiting for him? He had no idea what his expedition in the past had done to this dimension. He hadn’t had time or the knowledge to think about it, but doubts had been gnawing at him since he came back.

“-Naruto.” Sakura’s voice was firm. “Whatever happened already has happened. And there is nothing you can do to change that. Come on, there is only one way to find out.”

He let her pull him away from this place of misery. One step. Towards home. Another step. ßThen another. And another, and hundreds of steps.

They were going _home_.

* * *

  
  



End file.
